A young man had a miraculous escape after falling approximately 60-feet down a cliff 12 hours before he was rescued.
Twenty-four-year-old Deiniol Newling was on his way back to his holiday accommodation after a night out in Saundersfoot in the early hours of Saturday morning when he stumbled through vegetation at the top of the cliff between Wiseman's Bridge and Amroth.
However, it was not until the following afternoon that he was heard calling for help by another visitor to the area, Richard Mosson from Leicestershire.
Mr. Newling, who lives in Cardiff, is a frequent visitor to the area as his family own a caravan on a holiday park at Summerhill.
It is understood that Mr. Newling, who has many friends locally, had been in Saundersfoot and was returning to his holiday accommodation when he slipped and fell.
After receiving the call for help, police, together with the Tenby Coastguard rescue team, led by station officer Mike Day and sector manager Dave Miller, were tasked to attend, while the assistance of an ambulance unit and an RAF rescue helicopter was requested.
Saundersfoot and Kilgetty community police officer, PC Mike Smith, was the first to arrive on scene and advised that the shore based rescue units would best make their way along the beach from Amroth.
It was an hour before low water, so this presented no problem to the coastguard rescue vehicle, which ferried the ambulance staff and equipment the one kilometre distance along the beach.
PC Smith had managed to scramble up the cliff to the casualty's position and directed the rescue units to the scene. On arrival, the coastguard and ambulance staff made their way up the cliff and safety lines were rigged up.
A rescue helicopter from RAF Chivenor was diverted from a training session and once at the scene a winchman was lowered to the casualty's position, approximately 60-feet from the cliff top, on a sloping ledge of loose scree.
"The cliffs in this area of Saundersfoot Bay are very friable and suffer from continual erosion," said sector manager, Dave Miller afterwards.
"It is believed that Deiniol fell and tumbled down the cliff before the vegetation on the sloping cliff face arrested his fall," he continued.
"He really did have a miraculous escape. If he had fallen further, he could have sustained other injuries and slipped into vegetation where he could have lay undiscovered, but as it was he was visible and audible from his position."
In a joint operation, the rescue units treated Mr. Newling for possible spinal injuries, before taking 45 minutes to prepare him to be airlifted.
A landing site was secured on the beach, before the casualty was flown to Withybush Hospital, Haverfordwest.
He was later transferred to Cardiff where it is believed he would undergo an operation for spinal injuries.